It was widely speculated he would leave after his junior year to seek NHL contracts and that's exactly what happened. He was at the Pens' development camp last summer and while I wouldn't say he's a sure-fire top 4 guy, I really cannot explain how he slipped through the draft. He's huge and his skating is that of a much smaller player. His passing and vision are really good. Maybe I'm guilty of over-selling the guy because you don't often see puck skills and skating like he has in a guy that big. FWIW, he was as impressive as you could be in a setting like development camp.

IIRC, he's also been to camps with the Senators, Lightning, and Rangers. Last I heard, 20+ teams had more than a passing interest in him. With the CBA limits on rookie deal, the contract offers will all be fairly comparable, so money won't be a factor.

Why he won't sign here: There's a lot of competition for this player. The Penguins are among the deepest teams in the league in terms of contracted defensemen. If the goal is to get to the NHL as soon as possible, there are much easier roads to take.

Why he will sign here: The Penguins are a top-notch organization that knows how to develop defensemen. They've turned guys with lesser ability (Lovejoy, Engelland) into NHL players. The Pens seem to have a connection to UNO (they signed Jayson Megna from there last year, prospect Josh Archibald plays there currently). Ray Shero has big ties to USA Hockey, as does UNO's head coach Dean Blais.

Again, I qualify all of this by saying I'm basing my opinions off of a week of development camp and a handful of games on TV. I'd love for Shero to add him to the mix though. If he does, I'd say he's among the Pens' top 10 prospects for sure, maybe even top 5.

Just because he's 6'8" doesn't make him a bruiser. He plays strong, positional defense and uses his big wingspan (kind of like Kjell Samelsson if you remember him)from what I saw. He doesn't avoid contact by any means; he just doesn't look to hammer people.

netwolf wrote:Just because he's 6'8" doesn't make him a bruiser. He plays strong, positional defense and uses his big wingspan (kind of like Kjell Samelsson if you remember him)from what I saw. He doesn't avoid contact by any means; he just doesn't look to hammer people.

Watched him play several times with the UNO Mavericks... The beauty of the guy is just how much area on the ice is denied because of his wingspan and active stick. He'sa guy who can really setup his d-partner to have success just by being positionally sound, makes it easier for the other guy. Also, coming from a Dean Blais squad, you can guarantee the kid is well coached and conditioned and Blais squads tend to have a lot of Bylsma-esque philosophies.

NebraskaNic wrote:Watched him play several times with the UNO Mavericks... The beauty of the guy is just how much area on the ice is denied because of his wingspan and active stick. He'sa guy who can really setup his d-partner to have success just by being positionally sound, makes it easier for the other guy. Also, coming from a Dean Blais squad, you can guarantee the kid is well coached and conditioned and Blais squads tend to have a lot of Bylsma-esque philosophies.

What happened to the UNO team this year? They really went into free fall the last month of the season.

netwolf wrote:Just because he's 6'8" doesn't make him a bruiser. He plays strong, positional defense and uses his big wingspan (kind of like Kjell Samelsson if you remember him)from what I saw. He doesn't avoid contact by any means; he just doesn't look to hammer people.

I always have a tough time projecting how a guy's game might progress at the next level. He could probably handle bottom pairing for some NHL teams right now, but college to NHL is a big jump. I think it would probably be good for him to get some time in the minors just to adjust to being a pro. He has the physical skills to do it. Like I said earlier, I think he'd be among the Pens' top 10 prospects for sure, maybe even top 5.

Here's another article with some Sustr stuff, along with several other college UFAs that may be signing over the next few weeks. It says Sustr's defense partner for most of the year was Jaycob Megna. Jaycob is the brother of Jayson, who the Pens' signed last year as a college UFA. It also paints him as more physical than I saw in my limited viewings.

Andrej Sustr said Wednesday that he has narrowed his list of potential NHL organizations to five or six and hopes to make a decision within the next two or three days.

“The first couple of days (this week), my adviser said he got at least 20 calls on me,” Sustr said. “I've kind of narrowed it down every day to a certain amount of teams and I talked to about 10 teams' (general managers) over the phone. I'm just looking to see the best fit and opportunity.”